Chapter 7: Attack, Part One

It was not the best moment of Cade's life.

Seconds after whatever hit them had hit them, and the blinding light vanished, Cade opened his eyes and squinted in the darkness. He had used every inch of his body to shield Izabella, despite the tiny chance that they would not survive the explosion, but it seemed he had no need to; a bluish spherical bubble twenty yards across encased their position, originating from Trailbreaker's outstretched arms.

"Thank Primus I activated my shield generator just in time," he said. "Is everyone okay?"

There was a collection of affirmations from the other Autobots, many of whom had hit the dirt after Hound's warning. The explosion had left them in a rattled state, but no one seemed to be damaged. They picked themselves off the ground, deploying their headlights and weapons in preparation for combat.

Relieved, Cade peered at Izabella. The girl's eyes were squeezed tightly, and her body trembled from terror. "Izzy, you okay?"

Izabella nodded silently. She opened her eyes, her gaze darting around. "What happened?"

As Cade stood and helped Izabella to her feet, he surveyed the extent of damage of the explosion. Everything had been blown away in a massive circle radiating a hundred yards from where they stood, almost encompassing half of the junkyard. Vehicles had been shredded, their chassis melting from the heat. Small fires burned here and there, and broken glass littered the ground.

To Cade's horror, even his workshop and trailer had not been spared. But there was no time to grieve for his home and workplace, for another low hum filled the sky.

Except it was not a hum, as Cade soon realized with rising dread. A dark angular shadow seemed to glide smoothly in the sky, and anyone living in the US would instantly recognize the shape: a stealth bomber.

"Is that the Air Force?" Jimmy whimpered fearfully. He scrambled to his feet, clutching his head while staring at the night sky.

Following his gaze, Hound swore loudly. "That's not the Air Force. That's Blitzwing!"

"Who?" asked Izabella.

"No time to explain. We gotta move!"

"We'll meet you guys at the town," said Cade. Everyone sprang into action at once. Cade whistled, and Ramhorn, Nightstalker, and Stripes bounded into view. "You three, go get our bags. They are somewhere in the trailer. Then meet us at the town." Hopefully, their contents were not damaged, Cade thought grimly.

As the trio sprinted toward the ruined vehicle, Cade grasped Jimmy by the shoulder and thrust Izabella into his arms. "Go with Trailbreaker and Longarm. You'll be safe with them. You do remember the plan, right?"

Jimmy nodded. "What about you?" Izabella's face was wrought with concern.

"I'll be fine. Now go!" They scrambled after the two Autobots, who are already waiting in their alt forms. Meanwhile, Hound barked orders to the rest of the team.

"Bee, Drift, you're with Cade. Sunny, stay here with me; we'll distract Blitzy above us until the others are safe."

"I'll provide Cade with air support." Crosshairs bolted for the Orbital Assault Carrier, which had miraculously survived the explosion.

Canopy lumbered forward, Sqweeks trailing by his feet. "What about us?"

With a grunt, Hound shouldered his enormous gatling cannon. "Go with Izabella. And whatever happens, don't you try to be a hero." Canopy quailed at the brief glare Hound sent him.

"Hey! You forgot us!" Wheelie and Brains came hobbling toward the Autobot commando. "We fought Decepticons before," boasted Brains, looking fierce despite his mismatched legs.

Hound groaned in exasperation, but Cade stepped forward to take it from there. "You two are coming with me," he said.

Soon, everything was ready. The stealth bomber was still circling overhead, but it had not made another move since its first attack, something which Cade was glad for.

"He's flushing us out," Hound muttered, eyeing Blitzwing cautiously.

Though most of the junkyard had been wrecked, Cade was relieved that his jeep had escaped harm; it would give him a chance at survival, however slim it may be.

After Nightstalker and the others had retrieved the emergency bags and raced off outside, Cade climbed onto the jeep even as Jimmy and Izabella got inside Trailbreaker. "Be careful. And don't you dare die!" shouted Izabella.

He gave her a thumbs up, then watched as the group drove out of the junkyard first. He waited a few tense seconds, occasionally glancing at the sky to track Blitzwing's movements. The Decepticon seemed to be waiting for them to move out into the road where there was little to no cover.

Cursing under his breath, Cade made sure that Bumblebee and Drift were in their positions before switching on the jeep's engine. It roared to life, and he immediately floored the accelerator. Overhead, he heard the OAC flying closely.

As he sped out of his home for the last two years, Cade looked back. Sunstreaker's swords were already deployed for combat. Hound sent Cade a brief salute, then glanced up at a diving Blitzwing and readied his gatling cannon to face the Decepticon together with Sunstreaker.

###

"Good luck," Hound muttered at the retreating jeep. There was no time for sad farewells, and he was not one for that kind of drama anyway; he best saved his energy for the important task at hand: Destroying Blitzwing.

"Bogey at 6!" Sunstreaker warned.

Hound scanned the dark sky for the Decepticon, who now dove in their direction. Aiming the cannon at his enemy, Hound growled, "Take this, you bastard!"

His arms shook as his weapon seemed to roar like a ferocious beast, spewing trails of orange light. Overhead, Blitzwing swerved right to avoid the hail of bullets, approaching ever closer. Undeterred, Hound continued his barrage, following his enemy's path.

Then, as Hound depleted his ammo, Blitzwing transformed and dropped to the ground. He landed in a crouch, one knee supporting his massive form. Baleful crimson eyes glowed from his monstrous head. His hands ended in razor-sharp claws. And as he rose to his immense height, thrice that of Hound, weapons popped out of his armor: a gatling gun, a large chained mace, racks of missiles and rockets.

Hound was not impressed.

With a fierce shout, Sunstreaker charged. Hound discarded his gatling cannon and pulled out a two-barreled blaster akin to a human's shotgun, pumping Blitzwing with depleted uranium shells. A regular Decepticon soldier would have already fallen from the first shot, but Blitzwing's armor was made of a tougher material; the bullets barely did any visible damage.

When Sunstreaker was close enough, the Decepticon tried to swat him away. Sunstreaker dodged low then leapt and slashed at Blitzwing's chest, creating a long but shallow gash. The Decepticon flinched this time, but as Sunstreaker landed back to the ground, Blitzwing grabbed him by the arm and flung him away.

As Sunstreaker sailed past Hound, Hound emptied his blaster in an attempt to halt Blitzwing's advance. With a snarl, Blitzwing swung his mace. Hound jumped to the side, avoiding being squashed by the enormous weapon. He landed in a pile of charred vehicles, cushioning his fall, then scrambled to his feet as a volley of rockets and missiles struck where he had been.

The resulting explosion threw Hound off balance, and he hurled toward their energon distillation room. As he landed fifty yards away from the entrance, a thought occurred to him, and a sinister grin split his face.

The room was thankfully spared from Blitzwing's first bomb, which meant that it still contained barrels of unextracted fuel.

Glancing over his shoulder, Hound saw Sunstreaker in his alt form, racing straight toward Blitzwing. He swerved to avoid cannon fire, then swiftly transformed, and with a roar, struck at the Decepticon's legs. Blitzwing's knees buckled from the vicious blow, but this only served to enrage him even more. His arm darted to grab Sunstreaker, but the nimble swordsmech hopped aside, spewing a stream of insults in Cybertronian.

Hound got up to his feet and, having lost his blaster somewhere, picked up a crumpled truck and threw it at Blitzwing. It struck the bastard in the back, but it did its job; the Decepticon turned to glare at Hound. And with a growl, he charged like a mad bull.

The ground shook at Blitzwing's thunderous footsteps. He covered the distance between him and Hound in three powerful strides, at which point Hound leapt aside, rolled across the ground, and grabbed a grenade from his waist. Meanwhile, momentum carried the larger mech forward without stopping, and as Blitzwing crashed into the room, the canisters and tanks ruptured, drenching him in energon. Surprise flitted across his face.

"Happy new year, ugly!" Hound pulled the pin and hurled the grenade. Before it even landed in front of Blitzwing, Hound dove into the ground and curled into a ball just as a huge explosion rocked the junkyard.

###

Cade gunned the jeep's engines, scanning the road for any sign of their enemies. Ten minutes had passed since they left the junkyard, but the only ones near him were Bumblebee and Drift. Above them, Crosshairs flew in the OAC.

He had called the Chief earlier, and he was glad that the sheriff was fine, if a little shaken. From his account, Cade learned that there were at least ten Decepticons hunting them down. The number did not frightened Cade—they had gone through worse situations before, and against greater numbers. No, it was the fact that the Decepticons had chosen to attack at night that bothered him.

Gripping the wheels tightly, Cade squinted at the road ahead. It was dark and gloomy, and the only illumination came from the headlights.

"No sign of pursuers, Cade," Wheelie reported from the back seat. He and Brains acted as his eyes and ears; With Bumblebee and Drift in front of them, it left their back vulnerable from a sneak attack.

Moments later, he saw their destination in the distance: an abandoned town they have long chosen for emergencies such as this. Over the years, they have fortified it with various traps and caches of weapons, and they were lucky that no one had reclaimed it ever since a bloody skirmish between the TRF and several rogue Transformers.

It was the perfect place to hold out against a siege… or a last stand.

Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, Cade grabbed the radio. "Jimmy, Izzy, you guys there?"

There was a brief static, then Izabella's voice came through the speakers. "Oh thank God you're all safe! We're inside the bunker at point two-oh-six."

The bunker was nothing more than an underground parking lot of a derelict hotel, but they had transformed it to withstand a bomb run. Cade said, "Who's with you?

"Canopy, Sqweeks, and the trio."

"Good. Stay there and don't go out unless you hear from us." He switched to another channel. "Hunter to demolition crew. Are the landmines ready?"

Trailbreaker's response came instantly. "This is Delta One. Landmines are all primed for detonation. Delta Two is overseeing the eastern quadrant. Waiting for your signal, Hunter."

"All right. If you see any hostiles, blow them up."

"Affirmative. Any news of our rear guard?"

"No." Cade pressed his lips in a grim line. He and the others had seen the explosion engulfing the junkyard, but there was no word yet from Hound and Sunstreaker.

"I'm sure they are fine," Trailbreaker assured. "Those two are tough."

"I know. We're almost in position. I'll—"

Whatever he was going to say next was lost when a blur of darkness sped toward him from a side alley to his left. Cade swore and swerved to the right, and he saw Bumblebee intercepting the enemy. The scout rammed into the vehicle—a sports car, Cade noted—transforming midway and tackling the Decepticon's midsection as he too reverted to his robot form. They crashed into an abandoned grocery store, where they fought and grappled.

Where did he come from? Cade thought in bewilderment. But there was no time to wonder how the hell had the Decepticons ambushed them. In the sky, he could already see Crosshair's OAC doing evasive measures to avoid what looked like an F-35.

Despite the worry gnawing in his stomach, Cade proceeded to the center of the town. It was a four-way intersection that would allow them to see any enemies coming from all directions, protected by barricades made from cars stacked on top of each other and concrete barriers. There was even a Cybertronian anti-aircraft gun, salvaged from one of the spaceship wrecks in Chicago.

Cade parked the jeep inside the fortifications. After directing Wheelie and Brains to take spotter positions on top of the tallest building nearby, he ran inside a car repair shop and turned on the lights.

Rows of steel boxes greeted him. They contained an assortment of weapons and ammunition—both human and alien—that his group had found, bartered, and created over the years. It was enough for an entire army.

Hurrying, he went for the last box on the left and flipped it open. Nestled inside were several steel canisters with pins, which he grabbed and shoved inside the duffel bag he carried. There was also an M16 rifle, and a much larger gun, angular and sleek, that was obviously not man-made.

After gathering what he needed, he closed the box and sprinted outside. Drift was already manning the AA gun, his eyes scanning the clouds.

"Any news of Bee and Crosshairs?" asked Cade, taking a defensive position behind a concrete barrier. The sleek Cybertronian rifle was nearly two-and-a-half feet long, capable of firing explosive shells. He braced it in his shoulder and peered through the scope; there was no sign of the enemy.

"Bumblebee already dispatched his opponent and will be here shortly. As for Crosshairs," Drift shook his head, "I saw him leading that flyer away toward the east."

Cade swore. "Do you know who the flyer is?"

Drift hesitated for a moment. "Judging by his skills, I can think of only one who could give Crosshairs a hard time. It has to be—"

Before Drift could finish his sentence, the whole eastern perimeter of the town lit up as the landmines they had buried exploded in a massive firestorm. Seconds later, the northern side followed. The ground shook from the simultaneous detonation, and Cade had to brace himself from the tremor. A curtain of black smoke extended in every direction.

The radio hissed. Then: "Delta One to Hunter. I'm falling back to the hotel. I've neutralized some hostiles on my side, but all of them were foot soldiers. Three got past and are heading your way. Over and out."

There was another hiss. "This is Delta Two. We have a problem. They sent a decoy to trigger the mines. I'm sorry, Cade. I couldn't stop them."

Kicking the concrete in frustration and wincing at the pain it caused him, Cade said, "How many?"

"Four targets. Be careful. They are the Stunticons."

"Copy that, Delta Two. Fall back to the hotel with Delta One. You guys did good."

As the radio fell silent, Cade's glance back at Drift. Both of them wore a grim expression, tightening their grips on their weapons. They would soon face seven enemies, and even with Bumblebee, the odds were not in their favor. And it did not help that half of their enemies were Stunticons, a group that Cade heard from the news for being notorious criminals.

The roar of a car engine drew his attention on the road ahead, and some of Cade's worry eased. Bumblebee was heading straight for them at top speed, his alt form battered and dented in some areas. He looked fine, and as he reached them, he swiftly transformed and leapt over a barricade, plasma cannon already primed and loaded.

After Cade told him of Trailbreaker and Longarm's reports, the Autobot scout released a sound of annoyance from his radio and crouched next to Cade, joining him in guarding the road.

It did not take long for them to see several pairs of headlights approaching from the distance. "Hostiles spotted!" Brains warned from his and Wheelie's position. Four Decepticons barreled toward Cade and Bumblebee's side, while another three charged toward Drift's position.

Cade glanced at Bumblebee and Drift, who had abandoned the AA gun in favor of his katana. Steeling his nerves, Cade aimed at the truck barreling toward them and fired.

There was a loud crack from the gun in his hands, followed by a burst of shrapnel and fire as it struck the vehicle. The Decepticon transformed with a roar and tumbled over the road, coming to a stop thirty yards away and bringing out a cannon even as his comrades continued along the path. He was a large brute, fierce and menacing with strong arms and a horrible face.

A well-placed shot from Bumblebee hit the truck in the chest, the impact sending him sprawling on the ground and dropping his weapon. He roared from the pain, then slowly got to his feet and, ignoring his cannon, pulled out a massive axe from his back. He charged with a fierce bellow.

By then the other three Decepticons, all of whom were sports cars, were nearly onto them. Cade barely had time to retreat to a safer position before they transformed, vaulting over the barricades with ease. One cackled in mad excitement.

Two came at Bumblebee, attacking from two sides with swords and blasters. Swift as the insect he was named after, the Autobot scout danced past their shots and blows, twisting and twirling like an acrobat. But even though they could not harm him, neither could Bumblebee land a strike of his own, for the two Decepticons were smart enough to keep their distance.

The third one went for Cade, and it was at this point that he abandoned his rifle and pulled out a smaller gun from his bag. With practiced ease, he aimed at the grinning Decepticon's head and fired.

The poor idiot wailed in pain and stumbled back, clawing at his face. It was not a fatal shot, but the distraction was enough for Cade to hide behind the nearest barricade and catch his breath, surveying the battlefield.

While Bumblebee fought his opponents, Drift had already slain three Decepticon foot soldiers and was currently dueling the truck, sword against axe. He weaved in and out of the massive weapon with grace, deflecting blows with his katana and effortlessly avoiding every strike the truck sent.

That left the fourth Decepticon to Cade, and as he located the lightly-built frame of the mech still flailing about in anguish, Cade decided that even if he killed the mech, Bumblebee and Drift would still be hard at pressed to defend themselves, especially if enemy reinforcements arrive.

Thus, there was only one way they could survive this engagement. It would destroy one of their most secured positions, but they had very little options now. After motioning for Wheelie and Brains to retreat, Cade pulled out one of the canisters from within his duffel bag, yanked the pin, and threw it in the middle of the battlefield.

"Hit the dirt!" Cade yelled before sprinting away as fast as his feet could carry him. Bumblebee and Drift immediately disengaged from their opponents, already expecting Cade's action, and leapt over the remaining barriers.

The three of them had not gone more than twenty yards when a boom shook the ground and a massive pillar of fire rose from where the canister had exploded. Bumblebee crouched low to the ground and shielded Cade with his body while Drift stood protectively next to them. Peering past the Autobot scout's right leg and ignoring the searing blast of wind and heat that blew over his face, Cade saw with grim satisfaction that the grenade had done its job as he had intended.

Where their defenses had once been, there was now a blackened and scorched area. The concrete barricades were blown away from the explosion, scattered into a hundred pieces over the pavement. The flattened cars and anti-aircraft gun, meanwhile, were all shredded into scrap metals, and a few had melted from the extreme heat. Small fires dotted the area like tiny meteorites. The shockwave had also damaged the nearby buildings; Cade hoped that Wheelie and Brains had escaped as he had told them to.

Of the Decepticons, only the truck was left in a kneeling position, cursing loudly; the others lay on the ground, flames licking their frames and sparks erupting from gashes in their armor. Energon pooled on the ground, blue puddles that were almost black in the night.

They were still alive, of that Cade was certain, for they groaned and moved stiffly, attempting to stand. But he doubted if they had the strength left to attack in full force.

Knowing they were no longer a threat, Cade said, "Let's fall back to the hotel."

After the Autobots transformed into their vehicle forms, Cade climbed inside Bumblebee and signaled the retreat.


Writing the fight scenes in this chapter has been difficult for me. It's been such a long time since I last wrote something of this scale in a sci-fi fanfic, and half the time, I was not even sure if it's on par to my usual writing. I am more used to crafting fantasy battles due to all the stories I wrote in the last 4 years, so I apologize if this chapter is not as good as it should have been.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy writing this. This is just part 1 of a big battle. I decided to cut it at this point because it would be too big for one chapter, and I want to keep the word count small until I can gradually increase it as the story demands.

In response to a guest reviewer, yes, Prowl and Cliffjumper are going to appear. In fact, we will see them very soon.

Anyway, hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please Read & Review!

Until next time!